
What the paper says: Wednesday's front pages
Wednesday's front pages focus on a range of stories from data centres being allowed to build private electricity plants to Cork being on track for eight new train stations.
The Irish Times
report t
he Government is to make it easier for large energy users such as data centres to power themselves independently under a new policy to be published next month.
The
Irish Examiner
reports t
he final route for one of Ireland's largest ever road projects — the 80km Cork to Limerick motorway — is to be unveiled on Monday.
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The Echo
report that the cost of housing is causing nurses coming from overseas to leave when their contract is up.
Dark times...
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— The Irish Daily Mail (@irishdailymail)
June 18, 2025
Good morning readers. Here is the front page of today's Belfast Telegraph.
Stay with us for all your breaking news.
https://t.co/b9q5rlBKlU
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— Belfast Telegraph (@BelTel)
June 18, 2025
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South Wales Guardian
24 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Streeting confident about welfare vote amid criticism of ‘two-tier' Pip plans
Wes Streeting said the changes 'have put us in a much better position' and give 'peace of mind' to those currently in receipt of personal independence payments. The Government's original welfare package had restricted eligibility for Pip, but in a climbdown to stave off a backbench rebellion, the changes will now only apply to new applicants. Mr Streeting said this was not unusual for such a transition. 'When things change and evolve as you bring in new systems, it does change sometimes from group to group, student finance being an example,' he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme. He said 'we've got to listen' when asked if further concessions could be made on Pip. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has called for the Government to start from scratch on the Bill and said the latest plans were 'divisive and sinister'. 'Creating a two-tier system where younger disabled people and those who become disabled in the future will be disadvantaged and denied access to work and education, is morally wrong,' she said. Disabled Labour MP Olivia Blake said the proposed changes had been 'plucked from the air'. 'This could form an unethical two-tier system that treats two people with the exact same injury or illness differently,' she told The Guardian. The Health Secretary told Sky News's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that the changes 'have put us in a much better position'. 'As a result of the changes, it means anyone watching this morning who's in receipt of personal independence payments now has the peace of mind of knowing that their situation is protected,' he said. Labour MP Louise Haigh meanwhile said she planned to back the Welfare Bill next week but needed to see the full detail of the new plans on Monday. The former Cabinet minister also said it was a moment for the Government to 'reset'. 'I think this is a moment and an opportunity to reset the Government's relationship with the British public and to move forward, to adopt a different approach to our economic policy and our political strategy,' she told the BBC. On Saturday, the Prime Minister told the Welsh Labour conference the 'broken' welfare system must be fixed 'in a Labour way'. The original plans restricted eligibility for Pip and cut the health-related element of universal credit Existing recipients were to be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support in an earlier move that was seen as a bid to head off opposition. Now, the changes to Pip will be implemented in November 2026 and apply to new claimants only, while all existing recipients of the health element of universal credit will have their incomes protected in real terms. The concessions on Pip alone protect some 370,000 people currently receiving the allowance who were to lose out after reassessment. Ministers had hoped the reforms would get more people back into work and save up to £5 billion a year, but the concessions left Chancellor Rachel Reeves needing to find money elsewhere and point to possible tax rises in the autumn.


Glasgow Times
38 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Government's new health strategy ‘no more than hiding the crisps', Tories say
Under new proposals, retailers could be made to set targets to increase their sales of less fattening products. Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said setting mandatory targets for supermarkets was 'nanny state'. 'They had 14 years in opposition to think about what they wanted to do about the NHS, they've had a year in government, and the number one thing in it seems to be hide the crisps,' she told Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips. Mr Streeting said the Government wants to 'nudge people in the right direction' (Lucy North/PA) 'It's obviously the nanny state, but it's also not what people want for the NHS. 'People want to hear how they're going to get to see their GP. 'Telling people what to buy, I think, is not up to government. I believe in personal responsibility.' Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the same programme the Government will work with supermarkets to help 'nudge people in the right direction'. 'By taking the approach we're taking with supermarkets, they will decide through the combination of where they put their products, how they do price promotions, the reformulation, what products they choose to put on the shelves,' he said. 'They will work with us to make sure that we nudge people in the right direction without any of us even noticing, in the same way that we've nudged the country in the other direction since the 1990s.' Rejecting suggestions that the idea was too controlling, he said it was different to 'traditional nanny statism, where we regulate more heavily on price, on marketing, on what's sold'. Labour's 10-year health plan is set to be published next week. Other changes could include money for hospitals being linked to patient ratings. According to the Times, part of the proposals will see patients contacted a few weeks after their hospital treatment for feedback. Based on their responses, money could be diverted to a local 'improvement fund'. Another proposal could see NHS users awarded points for upping their step count and eating healthily. Points can then be traded for vouchers, with discounts at supermarkets and coffee shops, according to The Sun. Hundreds of bodies responsible for overseeing and running parts of the NHS in England are likely to be scrapped as part of the changes. Mr Streeting has said the current system is too complex and needs reform.


Glasgow Times
38 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Streeting confident about welfare vote amid criticism of ‘two-tier' Pip plans
Wes Streeting said the changes 'have put us in a much better position' and give 'peace of mind' to those currently in receipt of personal independence payments. The Government's original welfare package had restricted eligibility for Pip, but in a climbdown to stave off a backbench rebellion, the changes will now only apply to new applicants. Mr Streeting said this was not unusual for such a transition. 'When things change and evolve as you bring in new systems, it does change sometimes from group to group, student finance being an example,' he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme. He said 'we've got to listen' when asked if further concessions could be made on Pip. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has called for the Government to start from scratch on the Bill and said the latest plans were 'divisive and sinister'. 'Creating a two-tier system where younger disabled people and those who become disabled in the future will be disadvantaged and denied access to work and education, is morally wrong,' she said. Disabled Labour MP Olivia Blake said the proposed changes had been 'plucked from the air'. 'This could form an unethical two-tier system that treats two people with the exact same injury or illness differently,' she told The Guardian. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the 'broken' welfare system must be fixed 'in a Labour way' (Paul Currie/PA) The Health Secretary told Sky News's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that the changes 'have put us in a much better position'. 'As a result of the changes, it means anyone watching this morning who's in receipt of personal independence payments now has the peace of mind of knowing that their situation is protected,' he said. Labour MP Louise Haigh meanwhile said she planned to back the Welfare Bill next week but needed to see the full detail of the new plans on Monday. The former Cabinet minister also said it was a moment for the Government to 'reset'. 'I think this is a moment and an opportunity to reset the Government's relationship with the British public and to move forward, to adopt a different approach to our economic policy and our political strategy,' she told the BBC. On Saturday, the Prime Minister told the Welsh Labour conference the 'broken' welfare system must be fixed 'in a Labour way'. The original plans restricted eligibility for Pip and cut the health-related element of universal credit Existing recipients were to be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support in an earlier move that was seen as a bid to head off opposition. Now, the changes to Pip will be implemented in November 2026 and apply to new claimants only, while all existing recipients of the health element of universal credit will have their incomes protected in real terms. The concessions on Pip alone protect some 370,000 people currently receiving the allowance who were to lose out after reassessment. Ministers had hoped the reforms would get more people back into work and save up to £5 billion a year, but the concessions left Chancellor Rachel Reeves needing to find money elsewhere and point to possible tax rises in the autumn.